Former Pak president Farooq Leghari said Sharif would be deported if he returns home to take part in general elections expected to be held next year.

Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will be deported if he returns to Pakistan before the end of his ten-year-exile to take part in next year's general elections, a leader of the pro-Musharraf ruling alliance has said.

Former President of Pakistan Farooq Ahmed Leghari, who is a member of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q, said Sharif would be deported like his brother Shabaz Sharif, if he returns home to take part in general elections expected to be held next year.

The Sharif's, who are on exile, are currently campaigning against President Pervez Musharraf from London.

Leghari, who dismissed Benazir Bhutto's government in 1996 told Geo TV that the former Prime Minister left the country on a ten-year exile in 2000 and would be permitted to return only after that.

He said Benazir Bhutto who is on self-exile has to face corruption cases if she returns home.

Arrests warrants were already pending against her for failing to respond to court summons in different cases, he said.

Reacting to Legahari's remarks, Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N, (PML-N) denied that Sharif went on exile after entering into any deal with the government. PML-N, Chairman, Raza Zafarull Haq said Leghari's comments meant that government wants to use power to prevent Sharif from coming back to the country.